Saturday, October 5, 2013

Fat Jack



Fat Jack was among the armload of pumpkin beers I picked up a couple weeks ago.

I have a love/not-so-much love relationship with Samuel Adams beers.  I've said before and I'll say it again, I think it's really hard to be a craft brewer when you're so freakin' large. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they don't.

I think they did here, with Fat Jack, but I don't think it's their best effort.  It's good but I think it could have been so much better.

Fat Jack (8.50% ABV) is a strong ale brewed seasonally with real pumpkin and spices.

The aroma has a big hit of pumpkin pie spices and sweet caramel.

Compared to the smell the flavor was a bit of a let down. The taste was pretty shallow. I detected almost no pumpkin, if any, and the spices were subdued. Caramel was the strongest flavor and was quite nice. The alcohol could be felt as a tingle on the tongue but not tasted. The finish was clean with the lingering ghosts of spice.

The mouthfeel was full, but lighter than expected. Smooth and drinkable.

I thought Fat Jack was a bit of a let down. I was expecting something bolder and more flavorful.  It's not a bad beer, by any means.  If you're looking for a gently spiced beer, then this will work nicely for you.

Overall: good

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